Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Newfound Love
by Prayer Reverie
Summary: AU, NC. Cosmic Era 70, tensions between the Naturals and Coordinators rose to unbearable heights, resulting in the destruction of Junius 7. CE 71, join Kira Yamato, Miriallia Haw, Flay Alster, Tolle Koenig and the rest as they face life altering choices.
1. Chapter 1

**Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: New-found Love

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Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam, 'tis owned by Bandai and Sunrise.

Summary: Cosmic Era 71, tensions between the Naturals and Coordinators rose to unbearable heights, resulting in the destruction of Junius 7. Join Kira Yamato, Miriallia Haw, Flay Alster, Tolle Koenig and the rest as they face life-altering choices.

Other information:

Dedicated to **Hildebrant**, an excellent writer in his own right, and the creator the Non-Canon Revolution

This fiction will contain many non-canon couplings and character deaths

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_CE 70, September_

It had been three weeks since the start of classes at the Heliopolis Technical College, and for Kira Yamato, it had been three very lonely weeks. His parents were once again away on a long trip, trusting the house to Kira while they were away. It was nothing new to the brown-haired boy; his parents had been taking trips since he was 13 years old. While he was outgoing and friendly, Kira was also a bit untrusting of other people, and for good reason: he was a Coordinator, an embryo that had been genetically modified at birth to whatever desires the parents had.

Such desires often resulted in superior strength, speed and mental capacity than a normal Human, otherwise known as Naturals, due to their untouched genetic structures. The large performance gap between the two "classes" of Humans led to a lot of tension and hatred, forcing the Yamatos off the moon and into a neutral colony. Heliopolis was a haven for those who didn't care about the war or the differences between Naturals and Coordinators.

Suffice it to say, Kira had not encountered another Coordinator in the county he was living in. Kira used a lot of his free time exploring the undeveloped forested regions, wandering all over, like he was in another world. As a result, he found a lot of secluded spots with good views of the cities below and above. On this particular day, the sun was shining and the cafeteria was crowded. It was lunch time.

Kira unwrapped his chicken sandwich that he had made from his dinner leftovers. Biting a chuck out, he chewed thoughtfully, thinking of what he should make for tonight's dinner. The sound of laughter nearby caught his attention, and Kira noticed a group of four friends sitting and laughing together, three guys and one cute girl. Two more girls joined them, sitting down to eat.

He stood up to leave, having finished his sandwich, but a group of people stood up on a table, holding a drum that they banged on to get everyone's attention. "Hi there students of Heliopolis Technical College! I want you all to know that we will be hosting a Masquerade Ball in the main gym on October 17th! Tickets will be on sale tomorrow, and it will be a semi-formal event. We'll see you there!"

It was a good opportunity for Kira, nothing like going incognito and chatting with people. Perhaps he could find another Coordinator, or see what the general consensus about them was from the other students without revealing himself. The date was just under three weeks away, but Kira would have to start planning now to make sure everything would be in order by then.

Schoolwork he had no problems with at all, his course was mainly flowcharts and coding, and the two went hand in hand, making it easy to understand. Rather, it was finding suitable clothes for the occasion; he usually relied upon his mother for sound fashion advice, since his tended to be … off.

The three weeks passed in no time, Kira occupied himself by exploring more and more of the natural beauty in the nearby counties, as well as finishing his assignments with ease. On the night of the Masquerade Ball, Kira had picked out something decent, black slacks and a dark silver button-up shirt. He had found an odd-looking mask, one that covered the eyes and had a neat design for the forehead.

The mask was red around the eyes and nose parts with a thick white lining around the outside. Right above the nose extended a red rectangle, and from the rectangle were mounted two thick yellow fins, giving it the appearance of a V-fin on the forehead and an overall machine-like look. He nicknamed it the Gundam mask.

The Ball started at 7:00PM, but Kira was usually fashionably late for events, and this time was no exception. There were plenty of guests present by the time Kira arrived, dressed up in fancy gowns, dresses and suits. All of them had masks on, from lacy white masks held in place by a stick to strap-on masks in varying colors. Kira's was certainly one of the more unusual ones, with its color scheme and design.

There were three guys of various heights wearing matching tuxedos, differing only in the color of their vests. The tallest boy had a red vest, the shorter one with brown hair had a regular black vest, and the shortest of the three had a dark green vest. They were talking to a girl who was wearing a fancy orange dress that hugged her curves perfectly, billowing out slightly once it reached the waist and continuing downwards until it hit her ankles. She wore an orange mask with sparkles and a matching orange chocker with a small heart hanging in the center.

It was time to be adventurous; after all, he was virtually anonymous with his mask on. He walked up to the group of friends and interrupted. "I'm sorry to intrude, but may I have this dance?" he asked boldly, holding his hand to the lady. Kira could sense a bit of tension from the three guys, but didn't care too much as she placed her hand in his. "I'd be honored." She replied formally, letting him hear her sweet voice for the first time.

It was a moderately paced song, and a nice one at that, but all too soon Kira found that the song had ended. "Thanks for the dance." She thanked him when the song had ended. Feeling bold, Kira kissed her on the cheek. "Anytime." He replied. Her mask concealed most of her blush, but not all of it. She was speechless as she returned to her friends.

The black vest of the trio regarded her oddly. "What's up with you Miriallia? You look like you've gotten bad news … or good news." Miriallia Haw finally cleared her head, at least for the moment. "I'm fine Tolle, thank you for asking."

Tolle couldn't reply, a red-haired girl in a deep red cocktail dress grabbed him by his arm. The dress was backless, showing almost all of her backside, and the skirt portion stopped mid-way past her thighs. "Come on, let's dance!" she said energetically, dragging the boy out onto the dance floor to dance to a slow romantic song.

They passed by Kira on the way there, with Tolle managing to say a few words. "Uh … sure Flay." As the night progressed, Kira danced with a few more girls and got a few comments about his mask and where he got it from. Kira saw no more of the girl he had danced with, so he decided to ask her friends where she might be.

"Miriallia? I think Tolle took her home earlier." The tall one said. "Tolle did what now?" Tolle asked, walking up. His hair was a bit ruffled and Kira could see smudges of lipstick on his face. "I was just telling our friend here about how you escorted Miriallia home." The tall one explained.

"When, tonight? Sai, man, I've been dancing with Flay all night long, and I gotta tell you, she is one fine girl." Tolle danced a little to the beat, snapping his fingers as well. Flay came back from wherever she was latched onto Tolle. He winked at his friends and took Flay back to the dance floor. Sai shrugged, and Kira walked off. "Some friends they are." He muttered, passing by Tolle and Flay who were busy making out in the middle of the floor.

He passed by another group of three people busy gossiping. "Did you see that big guy running off with that girl in the orange dress?" one girl asked. "Oh yes, I think he wanted more than she wanted to give." Another one added. "Well she might like it." They all giggled.

Kira eyed a guy wearing a duster coat. "Nice coat man." He complimented, walking up to him. "Thanks man, it's really comfy." The guy replied. "Yeah, I'm going to need it." Kira said in all seriousness. "Wait, what? Hey what are- hey, that's my coat!" he protested as Kira got the jacket from the guy. "I'll bring it back later!" Kira yelled over his shoulder, bursting out the doors and into the streets.

He slipped the coat on and looked around. "Hey, this is a comfy coat." He mused, but then paused as he heard something that sounded like a garbage can falling over. It probably came from the alleyway just two blocks away. Kira ran as fast as he could to get there, hoping he was doing the right thing. When he got there, he unfortunately confirmed that he was.

The large man threw Miriallia against the stone wall and pinned her there. "I'm going to enjoy this." He said, ripping her mask off. "If you come any closer, I'll scream." Mir threatened. "Go right ahead, who's going to hear you? Everyone else is inside enjoying the party, so it's just you and me, and trust me; I'm going to make you scream." He reached forward and tore the front of her dress down to her waist and then pulled her mask off. "Oopsie, look at that, your dress tore." He said in a child-like voice.

Kira took this opportunity to act. A few feet in front of him were two chain-link fences on opposite sides of the alley, narrowing the actual path to a few feet wide. The fence itself was over fifteen feet tall, and where the fence ended, two sets of emergency stairs began up the sides of the buildings, but the odd thing was the connecting bridge at every level between the two buildings.

He took a running jump, propelling himself off the ground and maintaining his upwards momentum, he scaled the fences and grabbed hold of the lowest bridge and swung onto it. The man turned to see who was shaking the chain-link fence, but saw no one. "Damn cats." He muttered and turned his attention back to Miriallia. She had seen the masked man effortlessly scale fences and disappear out of sight, eliciting a spark of hope from within her.

Another sound interrupted the man, the sound of the air catching in thick leather. And it was coming from above him. He craned his neck up and around just in time to see a man almost floating down from above, wearing a demon-like mask, his fists ready. Before he could do anything more, Kira collided with the would-be rapist, making him collapse faster than a house of cards.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked after landing gracefully. She nodded, so he draped his jacket over her. "Thank you, I didn't think-LOOK OUT!" Kira turned at her warning as her attacker rose and procured a knife out of his pocket. He stabbed the knife at Kira who grunted as he put his entire body behind a single punch, sending the attacker towards unconsciousness and a dumpster.

His body hit the upright cover and fell into the smelly dumpster and the lids followed him down. Kira turned back to Miriallia. "So you're sure you're alright?" he asked again. "Yes, thank you." She replied honestly. "I'll walk you home if that's okay with you." Kira offered.

Her home was about a ten minute walk from the school, and it was ten minutes of rather tense silence. Kira kept his mask on, keeping his face hidden from Miriallia, even though she was probably curious to know who her savior was. They reached her doorstep. "Thanks again for the dance earlier." Kira said as she turned to face him. Milly smiled and then looked worried as she glanced at his shirt, now turning red with his blood.

"You're bleeding! Come inside, we've got to bandage that up." She insisted, unlocking her front door and dragging Kira inside. "There's a bathroom upstairs, second door on the right. Take your shirt off, I'm just going to change into something else." Milly ordered.

Kira had his shirt and mask off by the time Mir entered the nice bathroom, wearing a pink tee and a pair of faded tight jeans. "It's really not that bad, I doubt I'll be bleeding for much longer." Kira told her, wiping some of the blood away. "We should still bandage it up, the wound could reopen. Besides, this is the least I can do for you; after all you've done for me."

It was pointless to argue, once Miriallia Haw decided to do something, it would be done. First she wiped the excess blood off of his ribs and then cleaned with a damp towel. She then used hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound. Kira hissed a bit, but then stopped as she put an absorbing bandage over the cut. "Hold that there while I wrap it." She ordered. Kira did so, and Milly took a roll of gauze and started to wrap it around his chest.

"You know, this is a bit much for a scratch." Kira tried to convince her, but she just wouldn't have it. "There, all done! That wasn't so bad now was it?" she announced, sitting up straight to admire her handy work. Kira nodded in approval, and caught Miriallia's eyes.

It was her first good look at the one bold enough to kiss her on the cheek and brave enough to help her. She was amazed at the depths in his brilliant violet eyes; it was like staring into never-ending pools. Kira leaned forward, almost hesitantly and was about to pull back when Milly leaned in, reciprocating his move. Her soft blue eyes closed as their lips neared …

A persistent fist banging on her front door interrupted them, making Mir jump a little in surprise. "I'd better get that." Miriallia stood up and hurried down the stairs to answer the door before the annoying pounding sound woke her neighbors. She opened to the door to reveal Sai, Tolle and Kuzzey, all mask-less, and all looking worried.

"Miriallia! You're ok!" Kuzzey announced needlessly. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked. "Well some guy smelling like garbage said he got beaten up by some other guy in a freaky mask and that that guy had taken you. We all got worried and ran to your home!" Sai explained it.

"So if it was true, then what made you think she'd be at her home with the creep?" a voiced asked from behind her. Milly turned to see Kira walking down the stairs, his blood-stained shirt back on and his mask in his hand at his side. His statement threw the three stooges for a loop. "Yeah Sai, what made you think that she'd be here if the rumor was true? Stupid knucklehead." Tolle scolded his friend.

"You believed it too, Tolle. Chowderhead." Kuzzey muttered.

None of the three had a good answer for Kira as he came to a stop beside Miriallia. "So what are you doing here then?" Sai demanded. Miriallia glared at him. "He was the one who helped me Sai, lay off of him." Kira's cut and bloodied shirt hadn't escaped any of their notice, but it was Tolle who spoke up first about it. "So what happened to you then?"

"I was a bit slow on the uptake, that's all. Merely a flesh wound, if that." Kira explained. None of them looked like they bought it, but they weren't going to press that issue, at least not for now. "So then what's your name?" Tolle asked, curious to know his name.

"I'm Kira Yamato." Kira extended his hand in greeting. Each of the boys shook it along with introducing themselves formally. "It was a pleasure to meet you all, but I must get going." That got Miriallia a little depressed, but there was little she could do to stop him from leaving.

"Nice to meet you Kira!" Tolle called after him, but Kira had already disappeared into the darkness of the night. "That's weird." He murmured. "Well I think I'm going to take a nice steaming hot bath to relax, read a good romance novel and then turn for the night. Thanks for your concern guys; I'll see you at school tomorrow." Milly announced, telling them in the nicest way to leave her alone.

"Right, see you tomorrow then." Tolle agreed, leaving her, and followed by Sai and Kuzzey.

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School was bit subdued the next day, most of the student population, along with a lot of the teachers and professors, were tired from the previous night's events. As a result, there was a lot of free time for the students, and even the administrators agreed that it was the best course of action for the day. 

So Kira spent most of his morning wandering around the thick bush a few acres away from the campus grounds, exploring new paths and new places to visit in the future. He found one place in particular, a flat and grassy plain, with a single willow tree and its branches providing a beautiful spot to have a picnic, or a rest.

He stopped back at the school for lunch, sitting in his usual spot and unwrapping a roast beef sandwich. Before he could bite into the delicious sandwich, someone pulled on his arm, forcing him to stand. "Don't sit all alone Kira, sit with us." A beautiful voice said. It was Miriallia, inviting him to sit with her and her friends.

He couldn't really refuse her offer, not that he wanted to either, so he hastily grabbed the remains of his lunch and moved to their table. "Hey guys." He greeted jovially. They all seemed pretty intent on their lunches to give any more than a casual greeting, except for Milly. She seemed quite eager to know about Kira. "So we had free time all morning, what about you Kira?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, me too. I wandered around the grove of trees a couple of acres away from here, and then it was lunch time." Kira replied. They chatted back and forth about various things, and all the while both of them never realized just how strong a relationship could be forged in a single night.

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It is finally here, the long awaited re-write of Gundam SEED. I swear I've had this idea floating around since I started the Keshitai all those many months ago, but it kept getting pushed backas I started True Feelings, V90, Icess, my several one-shots, Things We Do and many others. In a stroke of luck (or maybe just one hell of a coincidence), Chief decided to revamp the FIA site, knocking the forums offline just as I gained approval for a PlanetSide section in the Games category, so the one-shot "Oshur's End" is the only story in that archive. The multi-part FIA story I've planned will have to wait for approval from my outfit (since the characters in the story will be the real FIA, my comrades in arms). 

So it gives me an opportunity to begin this story, as well as mention that there is now an official sequel to Icess planned, and work has begun. So Please please please Read and Review this story, and browse on over to the PlanetSide section, see what you think of "Oshur's End". Keep an eye out for more from me!

With thanks,  
Prayer


	2. Chapter 2

CE 70, December

It was the time of the Festive Season on Heliopolis, and though there was no snow to complement the winter season, Kira really didn't need to snow for what he had planned. School was over for the day, and it was a nice warm sunny day to boot. Sai and Miriallia were talking as they walked home; Tolle had bolted out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang to meet up with Flay.

"Hey, Miriallia!" Kira called out, gaining her attention. She stopped and turned to see where he was. "Hi Kira." She waved, holding her books in hand as Kira caught up. "I hope you're not doing anything tonight from seven o'clock and on." He didn't so much ask as he did state.

Milly suppressed a giggle. "Well so far I don't have anything planned, why do you ask?" Kira grinned. "How would you like to try something that you've probably never tried before?" that had to be the oddest way of putting it, but Miriallia pretended to think for a second. "I guarantee you that you'll like it." Kira finished.

"Okay then, I like the occasional surprise." Milly agreed. "Perfect! I'll meet you at your house at seven, don't be late!" Kira continued on his way, grinning victoriously. Sai was a little surprised that she had so quickly consented to go out with Kira, whether is was supposed to be a date or not.

"What? I'm allowed to have fun you know." She said to counter his bemused expression.

Seven o'clock came much to fast, or perhaps took too long to arrive, depending on your point of view. For Kira, it seemed like time dragged on, he triple-checked everything for his plans, ensuring that everything was set. For Miriallia, time zoomed by faster that a speeding car. It seemed like she had just gotten home from to school to pick out an outfit when she glanced at the clock. The red digital numbers read 6:54.

"Oh my god, it's nearly seven!" Miriallia cried out loud. She shuffled through her closet, looking for something nice to wear. Finally, something caught her eye just as her doorbell rang. "He's here!"

In her current state of blue undergarments and an open green bathrobe, Miriallia was glad that her mother Elice opened the door to let Kira in. She heard their small conversation while she was changing and fixing her hair. "Hello, you must be Mrs. Haw, I'm Kira Yamato."

"Pleased to meet you Kira. Miriallia had mentioned that she made a new friend at school, I presume you are he?"

Kira must have nodded because Mir didn't hear him say anything. "Make yourself at home; Miriallia should be down in a few minutes. Honestly, I don't know what takes her so long; she's been up there since she got back from school."

Kira chuckled and Milly barely held back a blush. "Mother, that's not a very nice thing to say to my friend." She said in an annoyed tone as she started walking down the stairs. Kira immediately stood as Elice spoke. "It's only the truth dear, but you two have fun tonight, okay?"

They both agreed that they would, and then Mir nearly pushed Kira out of her house. "Finally, any longer and I think mom would have started grilling you on your background."

"She seems like a nice lady." Kira shrugged. Miriallia eyed him. "Right." She said slowly. "So where are we going?" she asked, remembering why it had taken her so long to choose an outfit, she had no idea what was in store for her tonight.

"It's still a surprise, but it's only a few blocks away." On the way to where ever Kira was taking her, they chatted about school, parents and what they wanted to do in the future. "I'm not sure what I want to do, I haven't given much thought to the future, and I just live each day as it comes." Kira told her.

"But what about having a family? Wife, kids and all of that?" Miriallia was perplexed; her future was just about the only thing on her mind. "Well I suppose eventually, but right now, I want to enjoy life as I know how to."

It was a fair enough answer, living life as one wanted to was pretty much the best it got. "We're here." He said, motioning to a rather large building. There was a large sign out front that read 'Yoshimitsu Retirement Home'. "An old folks home?" Miriallia asked. Kira held back a smile. "More or less; it caters more specifically to retired people of Japanese descent." He explained, but it still left Miriallia wondering just what he was planning.

"It's also home to the Hi-Genki, a Japanese restaurant. Those living in the building get a free meal each day, and the staff do quite well thanks to the public." He finally revealed his plan after noting her continued confusion. That certainly made more sense to Mir, and she had never really tried Japanese food before, so it was sure to be an experience.

Walking in, the woman serving them immediately recognized Kira. "Kira-kun, so good to see you again!" she exclaimed in accented English. "It's been a while Harumi-san." Kira replied, bowing formally. Harumi led them to a small table and placed two menus on the surface. "Something to drink to start?"

"Ocha, please." Kira said immediately. Miriallia looked at him, and then looked at Harumi. "Do you have green tea? I'd like some of that please."

Kira chuckled a bit as Harumi looked at her a little sympathetically. She walked off to get their drinks, so Kira opened his menu to see what to order. Miriallia, however, decided to question his laughing. "What was that about?"

Looking over the top of his menu, Kira answered. "The Japanese word for tea is ocha, which is what I ordered. I guess you'll be learning a lot tonight then, eh?" Harumi returned with a pot of green tea and two cups. "Ready to order?" she asked, holding a pad of paper and a pen.

"Yes, we'll have a medium chagai, the assorted norimaki plate and tempura please." Harumi nodded and took their menus. "So what did you order then?" Miriallia asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"Chagai is rice boiled in green tea and fish, usually salted salmon. Norimaki is sushi and sashimi wrapped in nori, and tempura is deep-fried seafood and vegetables." Kira explained easily. He was right, Milly was learning a lot already, and they had only been here for ten minutes. "And this nori stuff, what's that?" her curiosity was getting the best of her; he was showing her something new and interesting.

"Seaweed." Was his one word reply. "So what are your plans for this Festive Season?" Kira asked, changing the topic. He enjoyed listening to her talk.

"Good question, I'd like to know as well. My parents told me to keep my calendar open. Usually they tell me straight off if we're doing anything. Last year we stayed here and had our friends over for a nice party, but this year I really don't know. What are your plans?"

Kira's smile faltered for a second. "I don't really have any. My parents are away and I haven't a clue as to when they're coming home, so I usually just deal with things day to day."

Their food arrived, Harumi setting the chagai bowl down first, and then the plates of tempura and norimaki. "Here you are, enjoy!" Harumi left them again. Kira pulled the wooden ohashis out of the paper and split them apart easily. He crossed them and then started moving them up and down as if he was sharpening a knife. Miriallia looked at him with and odd look. "It's to get rid of any slivers."

She looked at her own pair, and broke them apart, and looking at Kira, tried to use him as a reference as to how to hold them. It was evident she had never used chopsticks before, so Kira got behind her and demonstrated the proper technique. "You use your middle finger to keep them apart, keep your thumb over top of them to keep them in place. It's a little easier if you hold them lower to the points." He instructed, holding her hand in his as he showed her.

After several tries, she started to get the hang of using them and had mastered it enough to pick up norimaki off the serving plate and put it onto hers. She tried everything cautiously, asking from time to time what was in a particular piece of norimaki or tempura. Kira would usually have to swallow a mouthful of something before answering, and he was more than happy to take anything she didn't like because he seemed to like it all.

They finished their meal; Miriallia scraped her bowl relentlessly to get all of the thick rice out. Kira took an easier approach, pouring some tea into his ochaowan and stirring it briefly before drinking it. Harumi came back around to clear the empty dishes and placed two small cups of ice cream on the table. Kira looked at his green one and immediately offered to swap it with Milly's vanilla cup.

"You don't like mint flavored?" she asked, deciding whether or not to accept the trade. "It's not mint, its green tea ice cream." So there was something that Kira didn't enjoy. "I find it too sweet for my tastes." Milly tried a cautious spoonful of his ice cream and found that she liked it.

Kira settled the tab when it arrived, refusing any money from Miriallia. "It's my treat after all." He justified. It was a warm evening as they walked leisurely back to Miriallia's house, both still feeling full. "I guess it's a good thing we walked, if I sat down again I don't think I'd be able to stand up." Miriallia commented.

"Good food, I know. I'm about as stuffed as turkey on Thanksgiving." Kira replied, rubbing his full stomach. Mir chuckled. "That's just a little disgusting. Do you come with the hand as well?" Kira burst out laughing. "That's really disgusting."

All too soon they arrived at her front door. "Thanks for the wonderful experiences Kira." She said sincerely. "It was my pleasure. Anytime you want to go back just let me know. I think Harumi-san liked you." Miriallia unlocked her door, and then turned back to Kira. "Goodnight" she said, then kissed him on his cheek and turned inside before he could see her blush.

Kira smiled lopsidedly, and sticking his hands in his pockets, started whistling a tune as he walked home. The weekend passed with little incident, Kira headed for the patch of plains he had found the morning after the Masquerade Ball, hoping to further explore it. Monday popped up a little sooner that he liked, but such things couldn't be helped. He arrived at school and found Sai, Tolle and Kuzzey all chatting and sitting at a table playing cards before classes started.

He slid in the empty chair beside Tolle. "Morning fellas. So where's Milly? She's usually here by now." Sai and Kuzzey had a sour look on their faces as they threw their cards down and dug into their pockets. Tolle on the other hand was smiling as the other two tossed some money towards him. "Kira my man, you just bought me lunch, thanks." He said happily, counting the cash.

"Do I even want to know?" Kira asked. Tolle put the money away. "Of course you do. Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb over there thought the first thing out of your mouth would be about Miriallia. I figured you'd be polite enough to say hello first. We put cash down and I won."

"So … where is she?" he pressed. Kuzzey picked up his cards and put down a pair of sevens. "Her family went down to Orb to celebrate the Festive Season. I guess it was a spur of the moment thing for them; Tolle got a call this morning from her." Sai looked threw his cards and picked out an eight. "Diamonds. She doesn't know how long she'll be down there or what her family has planned. Good thing the homework gets lighter at this time of year, she won't miss much."

Tolle frowned as he picked up a card from the deck and then smiled again. "Pick up two Kuzzey, thanks for that one Sai. Anyways, she said she couldn't call you because she forgot to get your number, assuming you have one."

Kuzzey picked up his two cards and then laid down three more cards. "You're a brave man Sai. That'll be eight for you." Unfortunately the bell rang, interrupting Sai's downfall. Tolle's first class was only a few doors down from Kira's so they walked together. "So she really asked for my number?" Kira asked, making sure of what he heard.

"Not in so many words, she actually just said that she forgot to ask you for your number. I'm assuming that means she wanted me to get it for her. So, what's your number?" Tolle explained it. Kira looked sheepish. "I don't have a phone." Tolle simply shook his head. "Doesn't that figure? After class I'm taking you to get a phone." Kira wasn't particularly looking forward to getting a phone; he had a nasty habit of modifying technology to suit his exact needs.

His computer at home no longer had a warranty, he voided it when he added in a secondary cooling system to compensate for over clocking the front BIOS. His laptop was also modified; it now incorporated a non-standard Ethernet card capable of receiving satellite transmissions.

Kira feared what he would do to a phone; it probably wouldn't be the same when he got done with it. "I don't think that would be a wise idea Tolle, I have … problems with technology." He admitted. Tolle laughed. "Yet here you are enrolled in a technical college. Maybe you should be in landscaping instead?"

"Oh shut up." He grumbled.

Despite his wishes against getting a phone, Tolle literally dragged Kira to get one. It wasn't fancy by anyone's standards, just a basic cellphone. The clerk had it activated and assigned it a unique set numbers for the last four. Kira chose 5472, each number corresponding to a letter in his name, according to his phone's keypad. It wasn't for ego's sake, but for memory. "Just dial my name." he told Tolle after grudgingly paying for the phone.

Tolle agreed that it was an easy thing to remember and handed him a piece of paper with Milly's number. "Give her a call Kira, she'll be happy." He told him before leaving. Kira sat on top of his bed, looking back and forth from the phone to the number. Finally he gathered the courage and dialed her number.

It rang five times before he heard a voice. "_Hi!_" Kira immediately responded. "Miriallia, it's Kira-" but then the voice continued, obviously belonging to Mir. "_Gotcha! You're talking to my voicemail service. I can't answer the phone right now, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you._"

Kira felt fortunate that there was no one around to hear him talking to an answering service like that. "Hi Miriallia, its Kira. Nice trick, I'll think of something good for payback. Just calling to say hi, hope you're enjoying your time in Orb. Call me back, 994-5472, later." And then he hung up, feeling a lot better.

It wasn't until the next day that she managed to call back, but Kira was in school by then. After classes were over, he checked his messages. "_Hi Kira, thanks so much for calling. I'm sorry I missed your call, my parents insisted on enjoying a quiet night in a park with me. It was a little boring, but it's very beautiful in Orb. I still don't know when I'll be coming back, but you'll be the first to know. Call me!_"

He immediately dialed her number, but most unfortunately her voicemail picked up immediately again. Waiting until he heard the tone, he was proud that he didn't fall into her trap a second time. "Phone tag, you're it! I got your message, nice to hear from you. I hope you enjoy your time in Orb, there's not much going on in Heliopolis, except Tolle invited everyone over to his house in a few days for a get-together. Call me back."

Maybe he'd keep his phone on tomorrow during classes on silent, and if she called then he'd make the excuse to have to go to the washroom. It didn't quite as nicely as he had hoped; she called during his gym period, so his phone was in his pants stuffed in his locker. "Damn, what timing." He muttered.

They continued to leave messages for each other, both of them managing to miss picking up by minutes or hours. The night of Tolle's party arrived, and Kira showed up on time for once. Flay was already there, but Kira was the first out of Sai and Kuzzey, something to be proud of. "Kira, welcome! You know Flay already, right?"

"Sort of." Kira said, sitting down in one of the comfy chairs. "Well you two can get acquainted while I get you a drink." He said. Kira shrugged, might as well start from the beginning. "I'm Kira Yamato." He extended his hand.

Flay shook it gently. "Flay Alster." She introduced. Kira smiled. "So how long have you and Tolle been dating? Seems like quite a while now." Flay picked up her drink and took a sip. "It's not as long as you might think, only two months as of yesterday." Kira nodded, not too shabby in his books.

"We've known each other for years though, went to the same junior and senior schools." Tolle added, coming back with two drinks in his hand. He handed one to Kira, who gratefully accepted. Before he managed to sit down, the doorbell rang, and it was Sai and Kuzzey. "And the Three Stooges assemble at last." Kira said playfully to Flay.

She snickered. "So does that mean Tolle would be Curly?" Kira laughed. "Probably, but I don't know which is Moe or Larry. One of life's great mysteries I suppose." He managed to say before they all came over to sit down. Over the next hour a few of his parent's guests arrived, making the house a little more crowded.

Finally Tolle's mother called for everyone's attention. "I just want to wish everyone a beautiful Festive Season, and on behalf of the Koenig family, I hope you all have a good time!" there was an applause for her, partly due to her being the hostess of the gathering. Flay pulled Tolle into a long and passionate kiss, prompting Kira to start a conversation.

"So, Kuzzey, Sai, what are your plans for the future?" As the hours passed on, Kira reflected that it was a bad question he had asked. Kuzzey had answered with his dreams of being a race car driver, short, simple and to the point. Sai on the other hand had started talking about nearly everything in his life up to this point that could have influenced his decision to become, of all things, a CEO.

Fortunately his phone rang just as Sai was going to recount his childhood. Excusing himself, he answered the call. "Hello?"

* * *

CE 71, January 25th

Kira sat on a park bench, his laptop on the low table, thinking about his old childhood friend, Athrun Zala. On his laptop screen were two things, a coding program open and currently compiling his latest program that Professor Kato wanted, and the other was news feed from Orb, concerning Kaioshiung.

"Kira?" Tolle asked, leaning in close to his daydreaming friend. Kira jumped in surprise, fumbling around. Miriallia appeared from behind Tolle as Kira was trying to recover. "So I leave for a month and this is the welcoming I get?" she demanded, feigning anger, pursing her lips and crossing her arms.

Just when he thought he had recovered from Tolle's sudden appearance, he jumped in his seat again, waving his hands like mad, trying to come up with an explanation. Milly laughed at his attempts and caught his hands in hers. "I'm kidding Kira, only kidding. It's good to see you again."

Unfortunately his rapidly beating heart didn't slow any as she held his hands. "When did you get back?" he finally managed to ask. "Just this morning, Tolle and his parents picked me up from the port." Tolle smiled triumphantly, and then looked at Kira again. "Oh, Kira, Sai called me to say that Professor Kato has more work for you to do. He tried to call you, but no one was answering."

Kira checked his phone and saw that Tolle was correct; he had missed a grand total of 14 calls since he had sat down in the park to work. "More work? I haven't even finished the stuff he gave me yesterday." He complained, pointing to his laptop, still compiling. Mir leaned closer to the screen. "Hey, is this a live feed? Turn up the volume Kira." She asked, pointing to the images on the screen.

"_The situation has become increasingly desperate for the Earth Alliance forces as ZAFT pushed them out of the Kaioshiung spaceport and took control of the base's mass driver. Residents have been evacuating for weeks now, but some have foolishly tried to defend their homes-_"

"Hey, isn't Kaioshiung near Orb?" Tolle wondered. Kira was more worried about the date of the feed. "This was from last week only. It must have been going on while you were still on Earth Milly." Kira noted.

Her face visibly paled. "Hey, don't worry, there's no way that Orb would be dragged into the war." Tolle tried to sound sincere, but failed. Kira shut the screen off on his laptop. "I'd better go see what the Professor wants me to do." He resigned himself to a lot more work and not enough time to do it all.

"We'll go with you; I haven't seen the rest of our friends for a while now." Mir said, playfully nudging Kira. They talked about her experiences on Earth as they walked to the commuting station, and found Flay and a few of her friends chatting already. "Flay!" Tolle called out, waving to his happy girlfriend.

She rushed to meet him, kissing him for a brief moment and then turning to Miriallia. "Welcome back, I hope Tolle wasn't too much of an idiot this morning." She greeted her friend. Milly smiled. "He was fine, but I could have taken him if he did."

Tolle let out an indignant cry, but Flay hugged him. "We all know its true Tolley." A car arrived, and Flay's three friends jumped in. "Come on Flay, we've got shopping to do!" Flay gave Tolle a parting peck on the lips and jumped in the car. Tolle watched as it left, missing the other car that pulled up.

"Ahem." A voice said from behind them. Three adults were standing behind them, all dressed in business suits. "If you aren't going to use this one, may we take it?" the woman asked. Tolle stepped out of their way. "Go right ahead."

A third car pulled up as the second disappeared out of sight. Kira jumped in. "Come on, I don't want to keep Professor Kato waiting any longer, he'll probably have even more stuff by the time we get there." Tolle and Milly got in, and they set off for Kato's lab, near the factory block.

None of them knew about the two ZAFT ships waiting just outside the borders of Heliopolis airspace, nor did they know of the secret G-Weapon project that was ongoing inside the factory block. Kira certainly didn't know that wondering about Athrun Zala could hold very dangerous consequences.

* * *

There's the second chapter. Please, Review when you're done reading. Good, bad, or ugly.

Prayer


	3. Chapter 3

CE 71, January 25th

Sirens were going off everywhere, explosions rocked the city. Several GINNs flew overhead, destroying targets of opportunity as they went. Bodies littered the ground and fires started to rage out of control. The factory block was a battle zone as well, three or four ZAFT pilots managing to keep several Earth Alliance soldiers at bay. Two mobile suits lay inside of large trailers, both suits a dull grey color.

Kira had just finished one of the strangest things in his life; he had led a girl to the factory block where she had cried out that her father was a traitor. The fighting continued on the main floor of the factory as Kira returned, and he shouted out a warning to one of the defenders. "Look out, above you!"

The defender reacted quickly, spinning and crouching and then firing three shots to take down the ZAFT pilot. "Why aren't you in a shelter?" she demanded, raising her voice to be heard over the gunshots and explosions. "Don't worry about me, I'll get to L3!" he waved her question away. Kira could almost see the frustration on her face. "There's nothing left of that shelter expect for the door!"

To reinforce her point, the hallway leading to L34, and the path back to his friends, exploded. Neither of them had any choice. "Don't stay up there!" she warned him. Kira agreed; it was getting dangerous on the upper level, so he vaulted over the railing, landing on the mobile suit with no hassle. The woman clad in a mechanics overalls stopped in surprise at the ease of his jump and landing.

Her hesitation cost her, one of the ZAFT elite pilots shot her in the shoulder, and seeing that his rifle jammed, pulled a combat knife out and approached to finish the job. Kira stepped in front of the wounded woman to protect her. Both of the teenagers stopped as they recognized each other.

"Athrun?"

"Kira?"

A bullet shot rang out, interrupting the ill-timed reunion of two old friends. The wounded defender was firing her handgun with poor aim, driving the pilot away. "Get in!" she said, pushing Kira into the open cockpit of the mobile suit she and her comrades had so valiantly defended.

She flicked switches and pushed buttons, bringing the other consoles and the monitors to life. Kira heard the distinct sound the machine powering up, and then the faint static from the radio. "_Lieutenant Ramius' whereabouts are uncon---med, reques—ng back-p for the ---eapons._"

"I'm still alive boys." The woman, apparently Ramius, muttered. She gripped the control sticks and started to make the suit stand. It stood successfully as the factory exploded around them, flames burning everywhere. Ramius gunned the thrusters as best she could, very wobbly flying out of the factory remains and landing unsteadily on the concrete outside. _They expect to fight like this?_ Kira wondered.

A GINN approached them, its heavy sword poised to strike. She hit a button and instantly the armor changed colors, and took the blow with no damage, but they were sent flying into a nearby building. The woman hit her wounded shoulder on one of the consoles and cried out in pain.

Motion was caught on one of the backup cameras on the mobile suit, zooming in to show a group of teenagers running away. Kira recognized them, they were his friends. One of them turned to watch the giant mobile suits, and she stood out in Kira's mind. _Miriallia!_

The GINN was conversing with the other mobile suit that was lying inside the factory, now red in color. "Let me take over, we can't hope to survive like this." Kira said. The mechanic was slow to move, so he spoke again. "You might as well float in space without a space suit, now move!"

Taking the pilot's chair, Kira pulled a keyboard out and started to rapidly type, muttering commands as he did. An alarm went off, showing the GINN approaching again. "Weapons …" he muttered, and almost instantly a screen popped up, showing the built in weapons on the mobile suit.

Armor Schneider's and head vulcans were his current options. He targeted the oncoming GINN and opened fire, surprising the pilot with a well performed counter. Kira boosted into the air, the GINN followed, but as Kira landed he pulled out both combat knives and avoided the return fire from the ZAFT suit.

Charging forward, Kira dodged some of the bullets, and let the others deflect harmlessly off his armor. He stabbed one of the knives into the shoulder joint of the gun arm on the GINN and the other knife into the neck, creating sparks from both impact points. The cockpit opened and out flew a green-suited pilot, using his jet pack to escape. "Get away from the GINN!" Ramius warned.

It was too late; the GINN self-destructed, throwing Strike backwards. He gunned the thrusters to stop, and surveyed the carnage around him. Turning to ask the Lieutenant a question, he saw her slumped over, apparently unconscious. More motion was caught on camera, showing falling debris from a nearby building. Standing underneath the falling concrete and steel were his friends, having used the building to shield themselves from the explosion.

"NO!" Kira yelled, and dived forward, shielding his friends with the entire mobile suit. He found the button for the loudspeaker and spoke. "Are you guys alright?" Their reactions were obvious, surprise from all of them.

"Kira?"

"What are you doing in there?"

"How can you pilot that thing?"

He smiled. "I'll explain later, right now I want you all to find somewhere safe, I'm going to stand up, and then we need a first aid kit."

"You're hurt?" that was Miriallia.

"I'm fine, but there's a wounded person in here with me."

They complied, and waited for Kira at a nearby park, sitting on the bench patiently with an easily scrounged first aid kit as Kira made the mobile suit stand up and walk over to them. Setting the strike in a kneeling position, he rappelled down with Ramius, still unconscious. They set her on the bench and wrapped her wound in gauze and let the poor woman rest, they had important questions to ask Kira.

"So you're a Coordinator?" Sai asked.

Kira looked down at the ground. "Yes."

Miriallia stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell us earlier? There was no need to hide it." She said softly.

"I guess I wasn't sure how you'd all react to it." Kira said. Tolle waved it away. "That doesn't matter to people like us. So how did you find this thing?" he asked, pointing at the Strike, once again a dull grey color.

"After I led that girl to a shelter, I ran back out to get to L34, only to have the corridor explode. I jumped down and that Lieutenant pushed me in. Here I am now."

There was a groan from over where Ramius was lying down, and they all turned to look at her as she slowly sat up, holding her shoulder. "I don't think you should sit up just yet." Sai advised her.

The injured woman looked at them with a menacing glare and then pulled a gun out and aimed it at the teenagers, who immediately sought cover and found none. Miriallia clutched Kira's arm, and he stepped in front of her as best he could to protect her. Tolle looked defiant, staring right back at Ramius.

"You've all been witness to a top secret Earth Alliance project, which in wartime can be considered spying and treason, therefore punishable by death. I cannot let you go with the knowledge you possess." Ramius stated.

"Listen, we're Orb citizens and that means we're neutral!" Sai argued.

She cocked the hammer on the pistol. "And that's a good excuse to sell these secrets to ZAFT." Tolle snorted. "They already have that red one, it's not like-" he was cut off as she fired a round into the air. "State your names, all of you."

"Sai Argyle."

"Kuzzey Buskirk."

"Tolle Koenig."

"Miriallia Haw."

There was a pause. "Kira Yamato."

"With the authority placed in me by the Earth Alliance, you are hereby subject to whatever punishment they choose for you. Hands in the air where I can seem them."

They were all interrupted when something exploded along the main colony shaft. Out shot another mobile suit and a damaged mobile armor. "A CGUE here? And a Zero-type Moebius?" Ramius questioned, no longer paying attention to the group of teenagers.

Kira acted immediately, rappelling up the zip cord and into the cockpit, activating the phase shift armor just as the white mobile suit disabled the linear cannon on the Moebius armor. The CGUE turned its attention to the people and fired a few times, only to watch in awe as the bullets were deflected off the armor of the Strike, now standing in between the ZAFT suit and the people.

An alert popped up on one of his secondary monitors, flashing an arrow in one direction. Kira followed the arrow to a large trailer and was a little surprised when it opened up, revealing a large green cannon. Hitting another button, the Strike turned around and loaded the pack onto the hardpoints, showing the new weapons. "Finally, some weapons." Kira muttered, and aimed at the mobile suit.

The cannon swung into action as he locked on. "No, not inside the colony!" Ramius warned, but it was too late, Kira had already fired. The crimson red and blue beam melted the arm and machine gun on the CGUE, forcing the pilot to retreat just as one of the larger mountains exploded in a ball of fire. Out from the remains of the mountain flew a large ship.

"The _Archangel_!" Ramius cheered.

Kira watched as the damaged CGUE retreated. The damaged mobile armor landed on the ship as the ship itself prepared to land. The pilot onboard was skilled; he or she landed the ship with no difficulties at all. Ramius caught Kira's attention. "That ship is an ally, take me up there!" she ordered.

"I won't leave my friends behind!" Ramius considered arguing about bringing civilians on board a battleship, but stopped as she remembered that they have all bore witness to a top secret project. Confining them all aboard the _Archangel_ would be easier until she found a superior officer. "Fine, use the G-Weapon to transport us all up to the hangar."

Kira complied, opening the hands so everyone could step onto the palms, and then he curled up the fingers, creating a wall that they could use to steady themselves as he jetted upwards to the open hangar bay. They landed safely, and Kira deposited his friends and the injured woman onto the deck. "Exit the mobile suit immediately and step away from it."

The cockpit opened and Kira once again rappelled down, this time he was greeted by his friends. Footsteps were heard, many of them. The surviving crew had rushed to meet Lieutenant Ramius. "Ensign Badgiruel, where's the Captain?" she asked, returning the junior officer's salutes.

"The rest of the crew is dead Lieutenant. I believe you're the senior officer onboard now." The Ensign replied. "Not quite." A voice interjected. They all turned to see the pilot of the mobile armor walking towards them, still in his flight suit. "Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Earth Forces 7th Orbital Fleet. I request permission to board your ship." He said formally, saluting.

"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of the Earth Forces Sector 2, 5th Special Division. Permission granted."

Mu nodded and walked over to Kira. "So, you're a Coordinator." It was not a question.

"Yes."

Some of the crew raised their weapons, prepared to kill Kira. Miriallia stepped in front of him, blocking their aim. "So what if he's a Coordinator? He saved us!" Tolle stepped forward as well. "Yeah! You want to get to him, then you've got to get through me first!" he threatened.

"Enough. Lower your weapons." Murrue said irritably. "We don't have a lot of time before ZAFT comes looking for us, so we need to act fast and prepare the ship and the remaining G weapon. Ensign, prepare a team to gather as much as possible and bring it onboard the _Archangel_. Lieutenant, if you don't mind, I'd like to have you pilot the G weapon."

"Are you serious? I can't pilot that thing. I've seen the special pilots inside those suits; it was a struggle just to get them to move. That kid is obviously better suited to piloting it. Once I get my Moebius Zero repaired I'll keep flying that." Mu held up his hands.

"I don't think Alliance command would appreciate a Coordinator piloting one of their top secret projects." Murrue argued.

"Yeah, well I don't think Alliance command counted on ZAFT hijacking four of the five G weapons." Mu countered.

Murrue paused. "Fine, then lets get to it. Find the mechanics and have them get started on repairs immediately."

* * *

"We don't want any part in your war!" Kira was livid, the nerve of that woman, ordering him to stay inside the cockpit of the Strike on standby. "None of us are a part of the Earth Alliance or ZAFT!"

"Then do it for your friends, because if this ship is destroyed, you can be sure ZAFT will show no mercy to anyone left in this colony." Murrue snapped.

Kira felt his anger raise another notch; he couldn't believe she was using his friends as hostages in this manner. "Fine, but if you even so much as touch them …" he didn't finish his threat.

He left his friends reluctantly, and was being escorted by Murrue down to the hangar when Mu caught them. "I'll make sure he gets to the hangar bay Lieutenant. You know more about this ship than I do, so that puts you in charge, rank notwithstanding. I'll join the CIC once he's on standby."

Murrue thanks him and then left for the bridge, when she was out of sight, Mu turned to Kira. "Try not to let her get under your skin, she's under a lot of pressure, running a new battleship with less than a skeleton crew, she doesn't even have Captain's training. We all need to do the best we can."

Something about Mu helped Kira relax, it was as if the older man were like the brother Kira never had. He felt a little bad about snapping at Lieutenant Ramius like that, but considering the tactics she used on him, it wasn't completely irrational. The Chief Mechanic approached Kira as he walked to the zip line on the mobile suit. "Morning Kid. If you launch, you'll be using the Sword Striker pack, good for melee combat. Here're the specs." The grizzled man handed Kira a data card. "Listen, I don't care if you're a Coordinator or a Natural, you've got courage to fight for what you think is right. I respect that."

_Maybe the Earth Alliance isn't full of backstabbing officers after all_.

He had barely finished reviewing the data pad when one of the comm screens turned on. "_Prepare to launch Kira; three GINNs and the X-303 Aegis have entered through the Tanembaum district._" Murrue informed him.

_The Aegis? The red mobile suit from the factory? Then Athrun …_

"Right, Kira Yamato, launching!" the Sword Strike launched, rushing out to meet their foes head on.

The first GINN didn't even have time to react; Kira fired his Panzer Eisen rocket anchor, destroying the mono-eye instantly. Half blind, the pilot barely screamed before Kira sliced the mobile suit in half with his Schwert Gewehr anti-ship sword. The other two GINNs started their attack runs on the _Archangel_, leaving the Aegis and the Strike to face off.

Kira swung his sword, colliding with the shield on the Aegis. "_Kira! Kira Yamato! It's you in that machine, isn't it?_" he knew the voice well. "Athrun Zala? Why did you attack Heliopolis?" he demanded.

Seeing that the Strike was distracted, one GINN armed with a Barrus heavy ion cannon aimed and fired at the back of the enemy mobile suit. The alarm on the Strike went off and Kira managed to block it in time with his small shield, which unfortunately melted, rendering the Panzer Eisen useless. He kicked the Aegis away and grabbed his Midas Messer beam boomerang.

"Damn, how could he have dodged?" the pilot wondered.

Throwing the beam boomerang, Kira charged forward, sword at the ready. The GINN avoided the boomerang with ease, letting the weapon fly past underneath. The ion cannon took too long to fire, so he was forced to dodge backwards as Strike slashed down with the giant sword. The boomerang completed its arc and started to return to the Strike, slicing off one of the GINN's legs at the knee as it did.

Distracted by the unexpected attack, the pilot could only scream in fear as Kira once again charged, slicing a good chunk of the torso off. As circuits shorted, the ion cannon fired, missing Strike, missing Aegis, the other GINN and the _Archangel_. It struck the main shaft in the colony, vaporizing a few large supports.

The last GINN fired every missile he was packing, four anti-fortresses and a total of 10 smaller missiles. Kira wondered just where the pilot was aiming, the missiles didn't even come close to the _Archangel_, but to his fear, they all struck the colony shaft damaging it further.

"No!" he cried out, moving in position to attack the last GINN. The Gottfried cannons beat him to it, one of the turrets fired, destroying the GINN in an instant with their immense power, and striking the shaft as well. The shaft exploded and the colony started to break apart. Kira screamed as the Strike was sucked out into space, and didn't hear Athrun calling for him as the Aegis was sucked out the opposite direction.

Murrue stared in fear as the _Archangel_ struggled to maintain position. "What have we done?"

* * *

Finally, an update. Thanks to all of those who reviewed "A Meer Loss". Keep your eyes out for whichever story gets an update next.

--Prayer


	4. Chapter 4

CE 71, January 25th

"_Kira, Kira Yamato, can you hear me? Please respond!_"

Kira stared at the remains of his home, the colony formerly known as Heliopolis.

"_Kira! Please respond! Are you injured?_"

He ignored Ensign Badgiruel's attempts to contact him; after all, the _Archangel_ was partly responsible for the destruction of their peaceful home.

"_Strike! Kira!_"

Now Murrue was trying to contact him, after all she had done, forcing him and his friends aboard the _Archangel_ and then demanding that Kira fight in order to protect his friends. It was an underhanded technique used by adults to force other people to do their bidding.

"_Kid! Respond if you can, there are still ZAFT forces in the area!_"

Kira slowly reached for the transmit switch. Mu was different than most of the other Earth officers, wasn't he?

"This is Kira Yamato," he began slowly. "I'm fine."

"_Thank god! Kid, can you find the _Archangel"

He scanned his sensors and found the big ship easily. "I have you on my screens."

"_Good, then come on back before ZAFT finds us again. La Flaga out._"

Kira obeyed finally, landing the Strike with ease. Mu was waiting for him as he stepped out of the cockpit. "That was a fancy bit of fighting back there Kid, I'm impressed. Head up to the mess hall, your friends are waiting for you."

He nodded numbly, still trying to deal with fighting against Athrun and the collapse of Heliopolis, his home for the last several years. When he got to the mess hall, he found only Miriallia waiting for him, but that was just fine. She was fervently trying to hold back her tears as Kira walked in with a sad expression.

Wordlessly they hugged, both seeking strength from the other, and both failing as the tears started to flow. Kira felt Milly's legs give out and slowly lowered her to the floor as they continued to cry in silence, mourning the loss of their homes and very possibly the lives of their loved ones. Mir regained control of her emotions first, or at least temporarily. Wiping away the tears, she kissed Kira on the cheek lightly. "Come on," she whispered. "Everyone else is waiting for us."

Standing up, Kira nodded and steeled himself as best he could. "Right." Their friends were quiet as they entered the room, all of them sharing the same disbelief that their home was truly gone. The ship shuddered as two loud thumps reverberated in the corridors.

"What was that?" Sai wondered.

"Were we hit?" Kuzzey feared.

"Calm down." A confident voice said from behind them. "It's just part of our plan to shake our ZAFT tails and get to safety." Mu explained and he was instantly bombarded by questions.

"Where are we going?"

"Will we be able to leave when we get there?"

"What if ZAFT isn't fooled?"

Mu answered the last question. "Kira, if we didn't fool ZAFT with our decoys, we will need your help if they attack. Can we count on you? Can I count on you?"

Kira glanced at each of his friends, Tolle, Sai, Kuzzey and Miriallia. He looked back at Mu. "Yes." The older pilot smiled. "Good.

* * *

"The _Laurasia_-class frigate is still behind us Ma'am, but it doesn't look like they've spotted us yet." Romero Pal reported. 

"Good. Any sign of that _Nazca_-class destroyer?" Murrue asked.

"No sign so far. It looks like they've gone chasing one of the decoys."

Murure let out the breath she was holding. Their luck was holding so far, four hours of running silent and so far the enemy was none the wiser on the _Archangel's_ actual destination. Plus Mu had told her that Kira had agreed to pilot the Strike if either ZAFT ship figured things out.

"How far away are we from Artemis?" Murrue asked.

Helmsman Arnold Neumann replied. "At current velocities we're looking at another 25 hours Ma'am."

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Kira lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling trying to figure out how all of this had come to pass. Halfway through analyzing his time living in Copernicus City on the moon, the general stations alarm went off. He sat up, unsure of exactly what to do, but fortune was on his side. 

"_All pilots report to their craft immediately!_" Natarle's voice rang out. "I guess ZAFT wasn't fooled after all." Kira muttered heading to the change room for his new pilot's uniform. On the way he ran into his friends who had disappeared in the last hour. "Milly, Tolle, Sai, Kuzzey, what are you all doing?" he asked in regards to their Earth Alliance uniforms they now donned.

"We're just doing what we can to help out Kira." Tolle answered.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be fair to let you do all of the hard work." Sai chipped in.

"We thought you could use a few friendly faces and voices out there." Milly smiled.

"This means a lot to me you guys, thank you." Kira replied as he passed them, still heading for the changing room, while his friends were on their way to the bridge. It was exactly where Mu had shown him, the blue and white flight suit fit like a glove, even providing a bit of protection around the chest and shoulders.

"Well now, that looks natural on you Kira." Mu said from behind him. "I … I guess." Kira replied hesitantly, facing Mu as the man bit into a piece of toast. Catching Kira's eye, Mu offered the other half of the browned bread, but when Kira refused, Mu ate the rest of it in one mouthful.

"Always a bad idea to go out on an empty stomach." He explained after swallowing. "But now that you're ready I can tell you me little plan." Putting an arm around the boy pilot, he pulled Kira in close. "Now …"

* * *

"Mu La Flaga launching!" the Moebius Zero shot out of the hangar bay and disappeared in the void of darkness known as space. 

The Strike was lowered onto the catapult and then equipped with the Aile Striker Pack. "_Kira, all four G-Weapons will be participating in the attack, so keep an eye out on all of them. Keep in range of the _Archangel's _guns; we'll do our best to support you._" Murrue informed him.

Kira nodded, keeping his eyes forward and knowing full well what to expect. "_And Kira,_" she continued, making him look at the small vidscreen at the top of his primary monitor. "_I just want to thank you for everything you've done to help and protect this ship. Thank you._"

She was sincere about her words, but it wasn't quite enough at this stage, not after all of the tricks she had pulled. Maybe soon he could forgive her, but not right now. "Launching!" he yelled instead of replying and rammed the throttle up to full, blasting out of the _Archangel_ and rotating around to find the _Laurasia_-class distantly behind them but catching up.

Conserving his thrust power, he throttled back, waiting for his enemies to come to him. Mu was probably halfway to his target by now, undetected and poised to strike. "Undetected." The word rolled off his tongue as a plan formed in Kira's mind. "Time to make a few changes to your plan Lieutenant." He said to himself.

"The Strike has disappeared off our sensors!" Pal reported with a hint of panic in his voice.

"What?" Murrue and Natarle asked at the same time. "I'm not picking up any EM emissions of any kind, and with the debris in the area I can't pick up any traces of him." Pal concluded.

"Was the Strike not ready for combat?" Natarle asked.

"_Of course it is! I went over her systems myself!_" Murdock replied indignantly. "_The kid probably has a plan that helps him survive, that's all._"

It was a moot point. "Captain, I'm picking up spiked EM pulses from the _Laurasia_-class, they're launching the G-Weapons." Romero cut in. "Contact in two minutes or less."

Kira calmly slid the targeting computer into its ready position and locked onto one of the oncoming suits. The computer started beeping as it tried to gain a solid lock. He waited patiently as they closed the gap, drawing closer and closer. The computer gained a lock and the beeping noise turned into a solid tone.

"For Heliopolis." Kira pulled the trigger. A green beam shot out, aimed at the GAT-X207 Blitz. It missed the mobile suit by inches. Putting the targeting computer back, he swore to himself. "Damn, scope needs to be calibrated."

"_What the hell was that?_"

"_Nichol, are you alright?_"

"_Where did that come from? I've only got the legged ship on my scopes!_"

"_There! It's the Strike!_"

Kira activated all of his systems and the phase shift armor, leaving his position immediately and reminding himself to aim a little to the left. The four stolen mobile suits spread out and began their attacks, the Aegis and Duel taking on Strike while the Buster and Blitz went for the _Archangel_.

The three mobile suits circled around each other, firing shots that either missed or were deflected off of shields. The Blitz was held off from the _Archangel_ with a steady barrage of AA fire, giving Nichol no chance to use his Mirage Colloid or close range weapons. The Buster fired as fast as his weapons would allow, trying to find a hole in the Anti-Beam Depth Charges.

Just as Kira lined up a shot on the Aegis, the Duel charged forward and slice Strike's beam rile in half. He swore vehemently and backed away as fast as he could, drawing a beam saber to compensate. Duel and Strike clashed several times as Aegis watched, looking for an opening to attack.

And he found one. Gunning his verniers, the Aegis flew forward, beam saber ignited and at the ready. A proximity alarm on the Strike warned Kira of his new odds and for a moment he could think of nothing but how he was going to die, killed at the hands of a former friend, far away from the rest of his friends.

His body would be vaporized due to the heat of the beam saber slashing the mobile suit in half at the torso, and then they would leave the wreckage behind and overwhelm the _Archangel_, damaging the great ship as Mu would be forced to decide on his objectives. Whatever he chose, he would still die, outnumbered, outgunned and outperformed.

He would die as Kira would die, and everyone else aboard the _Archangel_, including his friends. "NO!" he screamed, taking action as a cloud of red haze overtook his vision. Kira threw his shield at the Aegis, which stopped his forward momentum to block the impromptu missile attack.

Taking advantage of his own opening, Kira swung the beam saber horizontally at the Duel, who managed to block the attack with his shield. Using his free hand, Kira grabbed the other saber and ignited it, slashing it downwards so fast that Duel was barely able to block it with his own saber.

Pressing the thumb trigger, Kira unleashed a hail of bullets from his head vulcans, the 60mm rounds doing little to the phase-shift protected armor, but they managed to knock out one of the eye cameras, shattering the lens in an instant. With the Duel distracted, Kira disengaged and flew to the _Archangel_, aiming for the Buster first.

Mu slid between the chunks of debris that started to litter the area. Passing a large piece of hull plating, he noticed a name painted on the metal wreckage, burnt and twisted but still legible. "The _Enterprise_ … flagship of the 3rd Fleet. So close to Artemis, are we to suffer the same fate as her crew?" he wondered aloud.

The large blue ZAFT destroyer grew larger and larger as he continued to approach it. "Right there." He muttered. His gunbarrels were armed and ready, and his linear cannon primed for action. "I'm coming for you Rau." How he knew that Rau Le Creuset was on that ship he didn't know, all that mattered was taking the _Nazca_-class out of the picture.

Blasting out of the debris, he felt an almost familiar electric jolt surge through his body, and in that instant he knew that Rau knew. It wasn't intuition, it was certain knowledge. To reinforce his point, the blue ship rotated to present her more heavily armored bow, but it was too little too late, Mu was already firing at the port engines.

A round from his linear rifle blew through the armor plating and damaged the engine enough to send the ship into a horizontal counter-clockwise spin. Mu fired his rocket anchor, latching on and using the grounded cable to swing himself back around to the _Archangel_ without losing momentum.

A message popped up on one of Kira's secondary alert screens right after the Buster had part of his V-fin sliced off. It read:

Mission accomplished  
Returning home  
-MLF

The _Archangel_ armed her Lohengrin positron blaster cannons and fired both of them, reddish-white beams tearing through space. The _Vesalius_ dodged enough to avoid a direct hit, but sustained more damage to her port side. Signal flares erupted from behind them, coming from the _Gamow_, ordering the attacking G-Weapons to retreat.

"_Good job kid, you managed to stay alive and protect the _Archangel_, I'm impressed._" Mu transmitted.

Kira wasn't listening; his sensors had just picked up something. The object in question had disappeared scant seconds later, leaving him to wonder if he actually saw something out there. Something blipped on his sensors again, and he got a near fix on its location.

"_Kira, where are you going?_" Mu demanded.

He scanned the debris as carefully and quickly as he could, wary of a trap despite their retreat. Finally something caught his eye, a large cylindrical pod in very good shape, especially compared to the beaten debris around it. "What is this?" A name flashed out at him. Heliopolis.

It was an escape pod from Heliopolis. And it was mostly functional. "That means there are people on board!" Kira grabbed the pod gently and returned as fast as he could manage, landing before Murrue or Natarle could attempt to force him to leave the pod behind. Locking down the Strike, he opened the cockpit to see a few techs already helping people out of the pod.

"Looks like the engine stopped midway through her escape burn. There's still propellant in the tanks, but none of the systems are responding. Probably a bad fuse blew the engines out." Murdock surmised.

One of the refugees Kira recognized immediately. It was Flay Alster, a classmate of his at school and the girlfriend of his good friend Tolle. "Flay!" Kira called out, pushing off from the Strike towards the pod. Flay looked around to see who had called her name and saw a familiar mop of brown hair coming at her. "Kira? What are you doing here?" she asked as a surge of emotions flowed through her.

"I brought your pod in from amongst the debris." Kira replied. Flay wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Thank god you're here! I never would have expected to see you on a warship, but what are you doing in that uniform? Why were you out there?" she rattled of the questions faster than Kira could try to answer.

"It's a bit of a long story, but Tolle's here too!"

Kira led her to the bridge to where Tolle was, ignoring the protesting look from Murrue. Flay rushed to Tolle and they embraced happily, whispering sweet things to each other. Kira smile as two of his friends were reunited. "Engage full engines to Artemis, we're not stopping for anything now. The _Nazca_-class is out of our path and there's no way the _Laurasia_-class can catch up."

"Aye aye ma'am, full speed to Artemis." Arnold complied.

* * *

Artemis was not the haven they had expected. Dissension still filled the ranks of the various nations comprising the Earth Alliance, and the Eurasian Federation Fort Commander Gerard Garcia was no different. He had the _Archangel_ locked down and boarded the ship with a complement of armed guards. 

Now he surveyed the assembled crew, minus the senior officers, in the Mess Hall, wondering just which one of them was good enough to pilot the Alliance's top secret G-Weapon in battle well enough to fend off four enemy units.

"Who is the pilot of the Strike?" Gerard demanded. Kira tried to stand but Murdoch held him down.

Silence answered him. "Well? I know the pilot has to be in here somewhere."

"Mu is the pilot." Kojiro answered, keeping pressure on Kira's shoulders.

"Now that is a lie. We've been monitoring your battles from here and we've seen the Moebius Zero. I won't ask again, who is the pilot?"

And more silence answered him. A notion popped into the bald man's head and he grabbed Miriallia and twisted her arm painfully around her back. "Since the ship's captain is a female, the pilot could very well be a female."

Kira stood up. "Let go of her now." he growled. Gerard tightened his grip, making Miriallia cry out in pain. "You bastard! Let go of her! I'm the pilot!"

"I really dislike young people disrespecting their superiors." he leaned in close to Miriallia's face and licked her cheek. Mir tried to shy away but there was nowhere for her to go. "You know ... females in the army are a rarity, and I'm sure my men are anxious."

Kira walked up to Gerard, barely containing his anger. "Let. Go. Of. Her."

Gerard threw his hostage at one of his soldiers, who promptly caught her and resumed the arm lock, and then swiftly punched Kira in the face. Unfazed, Kira turned his head forward again, looking down Gerard's arm like a gun sight and threw his own punch. Gerard caught the fist fully in his face and was sent flying into the bulkhead behind him.

And amazingly enough, he was still standing. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Gerard looked at Kira almost approvingly. "So, you're a Coordinator."

The shocked look on Kira's face confirmed it and Gerard explained. "I've knocked out bigger Naturals with less powerful punches in the Fleet's Heavyweight Division Boxing matches."

Kira charged at Gerard, but one of the guards swung his rifle and connected the butt of the rifle with the back of Kira's head. Caught off-guard, Kira stumbled forward and into Gerard's uppercut which hit him square underneath his jaw, sending the boy to the floor, completely dazed.

"Kira!" Miriallia screamed in fear for her friend.

"Bring him to the hangar, and bring the girl as well." he ordered.

Though conscious, Kira didn't put up a fight as two men dragged him to the hangar and set him down none too gently in front of the Strike. "You can start by deactivating the lock you put on the OS, and then we can work our way towards copying all the data on the mobile suit and its weapons."

"I'm not in the Earth Alliance forces, there's no reason I have to any of those things."

"You did betray your own people didn't you? If that isn't enough, remember that we have the girl with us." he pointed to Milly, still in pain.

Kira almost snapped, but he realized that it would have been useless. "Fine." he said dejectedly.

He floated up to the cockpit and sat in the chair. Two technicians and the guard with Miriallia followed. Kira pulled the keyboard out and started to type at a slow pace, even by Naturals standards. He hadn't been at work long when an explosion rumbled across the asteroid base. Kira heard panicked voices from a speaker and heard Gerard's equally confused replies and made up his mind.

Quick as a flash he pulled Mir to safety inside his cockpit and kicked the guard off and then closed and sealed the hatch. Mir looked at him doubtfully. "Uh ... Kira? Just what are you planning on doing?"

"No choice, sorry Mir. Get comfortable because this could be rough." Kira shrugged.

He loaded the Sword Striker pack and armed the Schwert Gewehr. Mir decided to try to stand behind the seat as best she could to stay out of Kira's way as the Blitz approached. The enemy pilot fired his Gleipnir piercer lock and Kira fired his own Panzer Eisen rocket anchor. Both remote wired weapons collided and both pilots moved to melee range.

Dodging a few swings, the Blitz retreated back to range and his Lancer darts. Kira dodged the first two and sliced the third in half, and the explosion sent Miriallia tumbling over the seat and into Kira. "Sorry." she apologized.

"Sit on my lap and hold on." he said, with no trace of embarrassment or humiliation.

Mir did so, hugging Kira tightly as he charged forward again. Blitz and Strike fought for several more minutes before the Archangel finally took off, ordering Kira back to the ship before making their escape.

A safe distance away from the remains of Artemis, Kira landed the Strike inside the Archangel's hangar and locked it down. "Kira?"

"Hmm?" Kira finished a few more commands when Mir kissed him on the cheek. He looked at her with a stunned expression and suddenly realized how she had been sitting for half the battle with the Blitz.

"For saving me and standing up for me."

Kira smiled. "Anytime."

* * *

"We failed to gain any supplies or crew from Artemis, and now things are starting to run critical. Food, water, even power cells we must ration carefully." Natarle advised, going over a data pad. 

"But where can we get supplies without running into ZAFT forces? Any more fights with them and I fear we'll drain our supplies so badly we won't make it to Earth." Murrue asked.

"There's only one place we can get supplies in relative safety from ZAFT." Mu said.

Both women looked at him. "The Debris Belt."

* * *

Finally, I update. This will be the last update I make for New-found Love until November passes. During the 30 days of November I will be participating in the NaNo WriMo (National Novel Writing Month), scrambling to write at least 50,000 (50k) words for my original fiction. I've chose to do the Paradise War. See you there. 

--Prayer


	5. Chapter 5

CE 71, February 3rd

"We're nearing the Debris Belt ma'am." Arnold informed Murrue.

"Very good Mister Neumann, Mister Pal, please call Kira and Lieutenant La Flaga to the bridge." Murrue replied.

Kira and Mu arrived in short order, with Kira looking a little surprised to be called up to the bridge. "What's this about?" he asked with no preamble and little politeness either.

Murrue frowned; Kira's attitude was borderline insubordinate. "We're approaching the Debris Belt, and I want the both of you to escort the Mistral worker pods safely in and out."

"Is there a supply station along the Belt somewhere?" Kira asked naively. Mu shook his head. "Don't we wish kid."

"We're going into the Debris Belt to find whatever supplies we can." Kira opened his mouth to protest, but Murrue continued. "That's an order Yamato, we either do this or we die before we can get to a friendly port to get supplies."

_First she takes hostages, now she robs graves. Is there any line she's not willing to cross?_ Kira wondered.

Mu placed a sympathetic hand on Kira's shoulder. "She's right about that kid; we're in desperate need of supplies. I know it's wrong to even think about this option, but we're alive and we have a duty to remain alive."

Kira stared at Murrue, as if daring her to use the excuse of his friends and not being able to protect. She kept her mouth shut. "Well? Will you help us?" she asked.

"I thought it was an order, even though I'm not even officially enlisted like my friends. I'll do it, but as soon as we get to friendly territory, we're leaving, and I expect to see a shuttle to Orb for me and all of my friends." Kira retorted.

And he was right, Kira hadn't enlisted with the rest of his friends, he only piloted to protect them, to keep them alive until they could all leave the war behind again. "I can't promise anything about a shuttle or even returning to Orb, but at the next Earth Alliance port we will let you leave." Murrue told him.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the bridge as Murrue and Kira continued to try and stare each other down. Mu finally interrupted the two of them. "Come on kid, we've got to go get ready, the Mistrals are probably waiting for us right now."

Wordlessly Kira left the bridge, Mu shrugged at the teenager's actions and then followed. They both suited up without a word, but Mu could tell that this mission was really eating into Kira. "Kid, wait up a minute." He ordered, and Kira stopped at the door, rolling his eyes when Mu wasn't looking.

"Listen, I know you don't like this idea, none of us do, but if we don't find water, we'll die of dehydration before we can reach the moon or the Earth. Cheer up; your friends will be out there with you."

His anger left him as the shock hit. "Even Miriallia?" going extra-vehicular was dangerous enough, but doing so with no training was like signing your own death warrant. Mu nodded. "Then I guess we'd better find supplies quickly." Kira said.

The Mistral work pods had already launched by the time the Moebius Zero and the Strike launched. "Mistral pods report in." Mu ordered, wanting to keep tabs on the virtually defenseless pods.

"Mistral One reporting in with Ensign Natarle Badgiruel and Seamen second class Tolle Koenig."

"Mistral Two here, Chief Petty Officer Kojiro Murdoch and Seamen second class Miriallia Haw present and accounted for."

Kira locked the second Mistral pod into his computer and started to track it on one of his secondary monitors off to the side.

"Mistral three confirming Seamen second class Sai Argyle and Chief Petty Officer Romero Pal."

"Then let's move out." Mu ordered, taking the lead in his Zero.

It was slow going at first, looking for traces of water first off, that was the most vital resource they need to find. They progressed further and further into the Debris field, the Archangel slowly following, helmsman Arnold Neumann was doing his best to navigate around the larger chunks of debris.

Parts of ships, pieces of mobile suits and hunks of rocks all passed by Kira and the Strike, but nothing remotely useful. His sensors then settled on something rather out of place, even in the debris field: it was a vehicle, one used inside a place with atmosphere and gravity. "What the?" he wondered, but then more and more domestic objects began to float past him.

A semi-truck and trailer, a part of an overpass, a grain silo, a suitcase and even a kitchen sink. Finally he made sense out of what in front of him. "Junius 7." It was the agricultural PLANT that had been destroyed by an Alliance-led nuclear strike on February 14th. It was widely believed that this act sparked the war into its full fledged nature.

Mu opened a channel to Kira and the Mistral's. "If this is Junius 7, then it's bound to have water and maybe some of the other supplies we need. Move in we'll set down, scout the inside in person."

That idea Kira didn't like, but he liked running out of water even less. He set the Strike down and followed Mu into one of the larger standing buildings, and they were met by the Mistral crews. They all split up into groups of two to search, but it had only been a few minutes before Ensign Badgiruel called for Mu. "Over here Lieutenant!"

Mu and Kira joined her and Tolle, looking through the door to see bodies floating among frozen globules of blood. They had committed mass suicide together, some stabbing each other, other through poison and others still with guns. Miriallia and Murdoch came over, and Kira tried to warn Milly not to come any closer. "Wait Mir!"

He was too late; she looked into the room and screamed, turning away and right into Kira, who wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back trying to calm her. "Hush, it's alright Milly, I promise, it'll be alright."

Romero reported in. "Lieutenant La Flaga, Ensign Badgiruel, I've found something that you're going to want to see."

"We'll be right there Mister Pal." Mu replied. "Is she going to be alright Kira?"

Kira nodded, so Mu and Natarle left to see what Romero had discovered. Minutes later they were all summoned there with their work pods. "Bring up the cavalry boys and girls; we have water just begging for us." Mu said.

It was pure frozen water from Junius 7, sucked out into space when the nuclear strike destroyed the PLANT. The sub-zero temperatures of hard vacuum froze the water instantly, and that made it easier for the crew of the _Archangel_ to transport it aboard. While work was progressing quickly, Kira couldn't help but feel a little left out as the Mistral pods did everything. He and Mu were escorts, to ensure the safety of the other crewmembers, but in his opinion, a mobile suit helping could make things go quicker.

They worked for three hours before exhausting all of the frozen ice they could find the immediate vicinity. Murrue ordered the crew to take a break before going back out, and Mu sent Kira up to the mess hall. Waiting for him were some of the crew, some of the civilians and a lot of paper.

"What's going on?" Kira asked.

"We're making lotus flowers to honor the dead." Milly replied, patting the floor beside her to make Kira sit down. He sat down, crossed his legs and picked up a piece of paper before glancing around the room. On one side of Flay was Tolle, looking confused as he tried to fold his paper, and on the other side of the red-haired girl was a small child, being shown how to make a flower.

Kira fumbled around with the paper, trying to remember how to make a lotus flower, and halfway through, he started folding it into a crane. His end result was … different, and looked more like a crumpled piece of paper than either a flower or a crane. Miriallia picked up another square. "Here, let me show you." She said kindly, motioning for him to follow along.

Her directions were accurate, and in a few minutes Kira brandished his first lotus flower, made from pink paper. The little girl that Flay had been helping caught on quickly, and started on her second on. Flay turned to Tolle and showed him how to properly make a lotus flower. The group kept at it for almost 30 minutes before Mu came into the room.

"Kira, you're up kid, the Captain wants you to take one more look around after we honor these people."

"Right." Kira replied, standing up. The little girl stood up and walked over to him. "Hi there, what's your name?" he asked, kneeling down to her height.

"Elle," she replied and then held up a yellow lotus flower. "This is for you, for saving us."

Kira took the flower gratefully and thanked the little girl. Elle ran back to Flay and started to make more flowers. Milly stood up. "Milly?" Kira asked, not sure what she was doing.

"I'm going out there again as well, to disperse the flowers." She told him. Kira didn't like that idea, but kept that to himself. _She'll be out there for minutes, and then it'll right back to the _Archangel

The Aile Strike launched, followed by a Mistral with Miriallia and Murdoch. Standing on one of the more intact buildings with Kira at her back, Milly released her armful of flowers to Junius 7. The different colors of flowers floated away, spreading out as they went. Milly turned a bit to face Kira and wave before hopping back into the Mistral pod to head back to the _Archangel_.

"Alright Mister Yamato, do a quick search of the immediate area and then return home." Murrue ordered.

"I understand." Kira said tiredly, having heard the same order about twenty times from a few different people. He started the search off slow, to allow the Mistral to safely set down inside the _Archangel_, he wasn't about to stir up a bee's nest with Milly still in the danger zone.

Twenty minutes into his search resulted in no contacts and no other major discoveries, so with a tired sigh, Kira prepared to head back to the _Archangel_. With one last forlorn look at the debris of Junius 7, Kira turned the Strike around. "_Archangel_, this is Kira Yamato, I'm coming home."

"_Roger that Kira, you'd better make it quick._" Sai said, apparently filling in for Milly for the time being.

Kira swore he heard an electronic pulse as he ended the transmission with the _Archangel_. "What was that?" he asked himself. He started to scan the immediate area for electronic emissions just as another ping sounded. "Found you!" he exclaimed, moving some debris to see a green object.

An escape pod. A ZAFT escape pod. It almost felt like he was compelled to grab the pod, so he did and set a course back to the warship. Along the way he realized that the Captain would probably have more of a problem with him brining in an enemy pod versus the Heliopolis escape pod he had found earlier.

"I've found a small ZAFT escape pod, requesting permission to bring it aboard." He said in what he hoped was a formal military request.

There was an obvious delay, probably due to Murrue, Natarle and Mu discussing what should be done. Finally Mir's face appeared on his small screen above the main monitor. "Captain says you have permission to bring it aboard Kira."

The docking sequence was quick, and Kira set the pod onto the hangar deck before exiting the cockpit. He joined the armed guards and some of the senior crew after taking off his helmet. "You sure you want to be here kid?" Mu asked, standing behind three armed soldiers.

Kira nodded. "I'm going to open it." Murdoch warned, typing a few commands on his pad that was plugged into the pod's controls. The armed soldiers raised their rifles to aim at the pod's single entrance as the hydraulics hissed. The doors slid open and away, and out floated a pink ball with eyes.

"Thank you! Haro!" it said in an annoying electronic voice.

_All of this for a little toy ball?_ Kira wondered in dismay. The something pink, white and violet floated out after the pink ball. "Thank you for rescuing us." She said in a melodic voice, floating above the crew assembled in front of the pod.

They were all stunned to see such a young girl float out of an escape pod retrieved from the middle of the debris belt. She continued to float along, passing the group before Kira took her hand and pulled her down to the deck. "Thank you." She said graciously.

Kira was at a loss how to respond, but he was saved when she gasped. "Oh my, this isn't a ZAFT forces ship, is it?" He looked at his flight suit, noticing the OMNI emblem on his shoulder. _Oh boy, here we go again._

"Well, I guess that means I should introduce myself, after all, that is the proper thing to do in new company. I am Lacus Clyne." She said, curtseying.

The assembled group immediately started talking amongst themselves, wondering if she really was the pink pop princess of ZAFT, the daughter of the Supreme Chairman of ZAFT. Lacus looked on in wonder as some of the guards wondered what they should do now.

"Ensign Yamato," Murrue spoke up and above the chatter, "perhaps you could escort Miss Clyne to the VIP quarters." She suggested.

Kira raised an eyebrow at his new-found title of Ensign. "Sure." He replied. "If you'd be so kind Miss Clyne." She nodded her head and then they were off.

>>>

CE 71, February 6th

The three days Lacus had been on the ship, not a single person could stop talking about it. Sai, Tolle and Kuzzey sat in the Mess Hall, half-finished meal trays in front of them. "So what do you guys think of that pink-haired girl?" Kuzzey asked.

"She's cute, no doubt about that." Sai replied, pushing his glasses up. Tolle was about to reply when Flay and Miriallia walked in. "Hey Tolle," Flay greeted her boyfriend, "what are you guys talking about?" she asked.

And out came three different answers, all said at the same time. "Nothing important."

"Just wondering how long it'll take us to get to Earth."

"Asking around to see if they had any fried chicken."

The two girls looked at each other, and then continued to the back of the Mess Hall to get their own meal trays. Part-way through eating their meals, Flay looked at Miriallia. "So have you made your move on Kira yet?"

Mir nearly choked on her food. "Excuse me?" she asked, not quite certain she had heard the question properly.

Flay set down her fork. "Have you made your move on Kira?" she asked again at a slightly slower tone.

"What is that supposed to mean Flay?" Milly demanded.

"I not trying to insult you Mir but-"

"You're doing a pretty damn good job it!" she interrupted.

"Just hear me out!" Flay pleaded, and at that point, Kira and Lacus walked into the Mess Hall. The Pink Princess took a seat at one of the tables as she waited for Kira to retrieve two meal trays. He sat down across from Lacus, paying no attention to his other friends still gathered in the Mess Hall.

Seeing that she would have Milly's attention for the next little bit, Flay continued. "You like him and he likes you, don't let some pink girl come in and steal him away. You were here first, so I suggest you do something about it."

"Like what? If Kira is happy with her, then I'm not about to ruin his happiness for my own selfish reasons." Milly countered.

"Why should one person be happy when two can be very happy? Lay your claim on him Miriallia Haw or you're going to lose him."

"Flay, Kira's not a piece of meat you choose at the market, he's a person, a human."

"They have a compelling story Milly, two Coordinators on an Earth Alliance vessel." Miriallia shot Flay a look that said 'you're not helping'. "But yours is better, two friends, finding love during hectic times, a little bit of peace when the world is exploding around them."

And then Kira and Lacus laughed, drawing attention to them, but neither cared. Milly felt a pang of jealously, and then sadness as Lacus put her hands over Kira's. "I'm leaving." Mir said sadly, and she got up and left.

Flay looked at Miriallia's retreating form, and then over at Kira, who apparently was paying attention only to Lacus. The remains of her meal beckoned, so Flay ate up, and then once Kira stood to put his and Lacus' tray back, she got up and quickly followed him. Lacus was playing with her pink robot toy.

Because of the shortage of crew onboard the _Archangel_, a temporary rule was made that you must clean your own mess, meal tray included. Kira ran the hot water to start cleaning when Flay slammed her empty meal trays on the counter. He jumped in surprise. "Flay?" he asked, turning around.

Flay bunched up her fists in anger. "What's wrong?" he asked, advancing forward.

"You …" she said, and then slapped him hard on the cheek. He was shocked at her actions, his eyes wide. Flay resisted the urge to slap him again and instead turned on her heel and marched out. Kira slowly turned back to the sink, still filling with water, and then punched the counter in frustration.

>>>

Flay's little talk with Milly didn't do much to cheer the slightly older girl up. She saw what Flay was trying to do, and inside she thanked the red-haired girl for it. But as long as Lacus remained onboard the _Archangel_, Miriallia felt like she would never have a chance against the pink-haired Coordinator.

So she was out for a stroll at night, trying to clear her head such thoughts. All she could think about was Kira, and the past several months she had spent getting to know him. Though they were happy memories, they only served to make her sadder, to the point where she was ready to cry.

And then she heard voices coming from behind a door labeled as a changing room for pilots. "This isn't going to fit in there, no matter how hard we try." a voice that sounded like Kira's said.

"I have an idea." asked a sweet voice that sounded a lot like Lacus.

Mir opened the door to see Lacus taking off the larger portion of her hoop-like skirt. "What's going on?" she asked quietly.

Kira could have jumped out of skin. "Nothing Miriallia, nothing at all. Just close the door and walk away like you never saw a thing." He replied, holding a spacesuit in his hands.

"Kira, what are you doing?" Milly asked with a little more force.

Kira relented. "I'm taking Lacus back to the ZAFT ship that's been tailing us."

It wasn't the answer Mir was expecting, and at once hope surged inside of her. Lacus slipped inside the spacesuit and sealed it, but kept the helmet off for now. Kira turned to her. "Can you wait outside for a second? I won't be long; I just need to talk to Milly." Lacus nodded and went outside.

"You're taking her back to her people?" Milly asked, seeking clarification.

"I won't let her be used by the Earth Alliance, not like we were. I've dragged too many people into this war, too many innocents. Athrun should be on that ship, I'll hand her over to him." He explained.

She crossed her arms so she held her shoulders. "You're coming back right? Back to us?"

Kira smiled and gently drew her into an embrace. "Of course I am silly, how could I think about leaving friends like you behind?"

He couldn't even begin to imagine how much of an impact those words had on her. She sidled close to him. "I never doubted you for a second." She brushed her lips over his, covering them for an instant. Kira felt intoxicated – her breath on his lips, her scent, her hair, soft against his face. "I'll be waiting for your return." She whispered in his ear, and then left.

>>>

"Sir, the Legged ship is up to something." Ades reported.

Rau leaned forward in interest. "Oh? What could they have planned this close to Earth? Inform Athrun to stand-by in the Aegis. We'll have to fend off whatever offensive they attempt without the _Gamow_."

"Aye sir." Ades replied, and then switched to the loudspeaker. "Athrun Zala to the hangar bay immediately!"

>>>

Kira loaded the Aile Striker pack and shot out of the catapult as soon as it was ready. Speed was of the essence, and he cleared the bay before the rest of the crew caught on to his plan. Setting a course directly astern, he opened his comm unit.

"This is Kira Yamato of the _Archangel_. I have with me Lacus Clyne, whom we found drifting in the Debris Belt a few days ago. I will hand her over, but only once certain conditions are met: the ZAFT ship is to stop all engines immediately and power down their weapons. If Athrun Zala is onboard, have him launch to recover her. I cannot and will not guarantee the safety of Miss Clyne if those conditions are breached."

The entire crew of the _Archangel_ as well as Athrun was shocked to hear such an edge to his voice. But the _Vesalius_ halted her forward momentum and powered down their powerful weapons. Second later the Aegis launched.

"This is Athrun Zala in the Aegis. I am coming out to retrieve Miss Clyne." He announced, and easily closed the distance between the Strike and himself.

Kira raised his beam rifle, pointing right at Athrun's cockpit. Any wrong moves and Athrun wouldn't even know what would hit him; his body would be vaporized instantly. Instead, the ZAFT soldier opened his cockpit. "Say something." Kira said to Lacus.

"Hmm?" Lacus wasn't sure as to why.

"He can't see you, even if I had my cockpit open. Confirm that it's you." He explained.

"Hello Athrun, Mister Pink and I have missed you." She said.

Athrun held in his laughter. "Confirmed." He said, undoing his straps and standing on his cockpit doors.

"Go on, you're free to go." Kira said, giving her a small push to clear the distance between the two mobile suits. Athrun caught her with ease and then hugged her. "Lacus, you had me worried, the _Silverwind_ coming under attack and no word from you at all."

"Kira was good company, I wasn't lonely or afraid." She replied.

Athrun extended his hand towards the Strike. "Kira! Come with us! There's no reason for you to be with the Naturals, fighting against your brethren!"

Kira squashed the uncertainty in his heart. "I can't! I don't want to fight, but I do so to protect my friends!" he lowered his voice to such a quiet whisper that not even the transmitter picked it up. "And someone I deeply care for is onboard that ship."

"Then I have no other choice Kira!" his voiced hardened. "The next time we meet on the battlefield I'll shoot you." He vowed.

"Don't expect an easy fight Athrun." Kira growled back and closed his cockpit doors.

"Kira!" Lacus called out. "Thank you for returning me to my fiancé!"

Blue thruster wash answered her as Kira sped off, heading back to the _Archangel_. "Let's go home Lacus." Athrun said.

>>>

"You are one lucky son of a bitch Kira; I was fully expecting ZAFT to attack as soon as you handed her over." Mu said, half scolding and half congratulation the young Coordinator.

"What are we going to do with you?" Natarle demanded. "Commandeering a mobile suit and whisking away a valuable hostage back to the enemy is grounds for a court martial and even the death penalty. Treason is not lightly forgiven."

The blood drained from Kira's face at the thought of his own execution.

"Fortunately for you Kira, we have no authority to try you as a civilian, but I do not suggest pulling another stunt like that ever again. Are we clear?" Murrue added her tone frosty.

"Crystal clear ma'am." Kira replied, genuinely afraid of Murrue for the first time.

"Dismissed." Kira was thankful and left as quickly as he could. "Natarle is right; we have just lost a bargaining chip that could have gotten us to Alaska with troubles."

"The Kid was just doing what was right in his heart. I don't blame him; I would have done the same thing if I was his age." Mu said. "So I guess we're back to my wits, your commands and the crew's abilities to save us."

'_We're doomed'_ Natarle thought.

>>>

Kira made his way to his room and thumbed the door open. "Kira!" someone called out. He turned around just as Miriallia crashed into him, her momentum carrying both of them into his room, allowing the door to close.

"I was worried." She said, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"I told you I'd come back." He said pulling her in close.

"I never doubted you for a second." They kissed and the world was swept away.

* * *

A/N: Thought you'd never see me again eh? Guess again! Mwuhaha!

Sorry. I haven't updated NfL since the end of October, right before the NaNo began. When the NaNo was over, I found myself with a lack of will to write and a lack of sanity as well.

The ideas, they flowed. The words, they ran dry.  
I wrote a V90-related one-shot to try and clear my head. That failed  
I played F.E.A.R. to try and clear my head. That failed, and then my head was filled with images of the game.  
I took a challenge for a Kira/Luna fic to inspire me. That failed, and now I have to get a Kira/Luna fic up and running.  
I worked on Work Bytes, my website, I watched movies, and I even went out and did things in real life. How the mighty have fallen.  
I read books, End Run from the Wing Commander series, Hard Contact from Star Wars.

And then I gazed upon it, Divergent Strike, the Gundam SEED novel. I bought it immediately (and just days before I had found the Gundam 0079 novel trilogy, but they don't ship to Canada).

Now you have an update of NfL.

Evidently you can see that I skipped a few things, but some things are not necessary for the direction that NfL will be going in. Until next time, please Review, a good review is like a meal for an aspiring author.

Prayer


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